[LCB-Grad]

Is there such a beast? My Bonjour torch has gone belly-up , and the battery appears to be non-replaceable. I've written to them, but no answer. I'm not too happy about buying a new torch every 6 months or so.

Thanks

[dano1]

go to the hardware store and get a welding torch head w/replacement tanks. usually come as a kit kit for ~$10-20. Don't waste your time on those little things.

[Headless Chicken]

I don't see the point in battery operated torches as the battery is usually 1 of those expensive, probrably proprietary ones as your easy to find batteries probrably can't hold enough of a charge to do much.

I suggest switching to a gas torch and buy extra butane or whatever the torch runs on. We're talking anywhere between $20-$50 for something good/decent and another $10-$20 for a 3 pack of butane.

[LCB-Grad]

While that is a great option for the BOH and at home, I can not use such a device in FOH for service. That would be sort of like making a crepe using a turkey fryer.

[Betsie]

LCB Grad - Don't despair about your BonJour Torch. They run on Butane not a battery. Check out anywhere that sells lighter fuel or the hardware store for the fuel. Triple refined is the best - less gum up in the torch! If it is not the fuel call their consumer relations line at 800-2bonjour.

[dano1]

Originally Posted by LCB-Grad

While that is a great option for the BOH and at home, I can not use such a device in FOH for service. That would be sort of like making a crepe using a turkey fryer.

your servers are burning em? wheres your pantry guy.

[Blueicus]

Perhaps tableside creme torching is the new crepes suzette... though if there was tableside crepes suzette, using a massive blowtorch isn't that much more dangerous to customer and server .

[MikeLM]

Hey- I've seen restaurant pepper grinders bigger than a Bernz-O-Matic propane torch!

Paint the tank or wrap it in some kind of psychodelic foil wrap and make a production out of it. Keep the torch end shined and use it with a flourish.

Besides, every customer who is a do-it-your-selfer will think it's funny as he!!.

You'll just need to have a spark igniter or a little propane lighter to light the torch- it's hard to do with a match. Actually, a Zippo lighter would do fine, and be nostalgic to boot. You could do it with one in each hand- crack the valve on the Bernz, flick the Zippo, and away you go. You can get a tip for the Bernz that spreads the flame into a fan shape for faster work.

(Not edited, accidentally deleted and has been restored.)

[mudbug]

I have a feeling I'd enjoy watching you work Mike!

[MikeLM]

Um, well... you should probably unhook the smoke detector if you're doing several creme brulees at one serving.

The other advantage is, when you're not cooking, you can do your plumbing repairs with the same equipment.

How many other cooking tools started out as craftsmen's equipment?

at least one- the Microplane. That sterling cheese-grater and citrus-zester started out as a wood rasp. We bought ours from Lee Valley, a woodworker's mail-order tool supplier, ten or twelve years ago when they pointed out its utility in the kitchen. My son, when he had a cabinet shop, used the Microplane we gave him alternately in the kitchen and in the shop as a fine-shaping wood tool.

Incidentally, www.leevalley.com offers not only very innovative woodworking tools, but lines of very nice kitchen tools and gardening equipment.

Mike
(I'm not a Lee Valley shareholder.)